Synergic effects of rare earth-magnesium based hydrides (LaH 3 -MgH 2 ) on thermal dehydrogenation of potassium borohydride (KBH 4 ) are discussed in the paper. Comparing to above 675 K for the LaH 3 -MgH 2 or KBH 4 , the dehydrogenation temperature can be decreased to 346 K for the composites (LaH 3 -MgH 2 -KBH 4 ). The apparent activation energy of desorption process for the mixture is also greatly reduced. On the other hand, the products in the temperature programmed desorption process are also illustrated.
Octahydrotriborates are potential hydrogen storage materials and chemical vapor deposition precursors to boride films. Their syntheses have been quite challenging, however. In this paper, an improved facile route for the preparation of unsolvated sodium octahydrotriborate (NaB 3 H 8 ), which is an important precursor to other octahydrotriborates and derivatives, is reported. The key steps in the synthesis involve dispersing Na finely in inert media and preparing fresh tetrahydrofuran (THF)·BH 3 at room temperature . High purity unsolvated NaB 3 H 8 can be obtained in tens of grams or more in one batch, depending on the reactor size. Using NaB 3 H 8 as the precursor, sodium dodecaborate (Na 2 B 12 H 12 ) has been successfully synthesized. Both octahydrotriborates and dodecaborates have been observed as intermediates during the thermal dehydrogenation of borohydrides , and their facile syntheses would facilitate mechanistic studies on the hydrogen storage of borohydrides , among other potential applications.